Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
It used to be predicted that robots would one day rule the world, and according to Sir Clive Sinclair, they still might. As part of Newsnight's "Geek Week" series of reports into the IT revolution, Stephen Smith takes a lighthearted look back through the BBC archive to see whether he can uncover any clues as to when, exactly, the seemingly inevitable combination of artificial intelligence and advanced robotics will spell the end of humanity as we know it.
Clip taken from Newsnight, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 6 January, 2006.
You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic clips from the BBC vaults.
Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - youtube.com/c/BBCArchive?sub_confirmation=1
You can also dive into plenty more BBC Archive on our website - bbc.co.uk/archive
It used to be predicted that robots would one day rule the world, and according to Sir Clive Sinclair, they still might. As part of Newsnight's "Geek Week" series of reports into the IT revolution, Stephen Smith takes a lighthearted look back through the BBC archive to see whether he can uncover any clues as to when, exactly, the seemingly inevitable combination of artificial intelligence and advanced robotics will spell the end of humanity as we know it.
Clip taken from Newsnight, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 6 January, 2006.
You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic clips from the BBC vaults.
Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - youtube.com/c/BBCArchive?sub_confirmation=1
You can also dive into plenty more BBC Archive on our website - bbc.co.uk/archive
